A day after the Orissa High Court granted him bail, Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi was released from the Jharpada jail here on Saturday afternoon.
The HC had on Friday granted conditional bail to the MLA in connection with the Tata Motors job fraud case registered against him at the Golanthara police station in Ganjam district. With this, the court has granted him bail in a total six cases registered against him.
Notably, the Crime Branch police arrested Panigrahi on December 3, 2020 in connection with the job fraud cases. Panigrahi allegedly collected money from people on behalf of his would-be son-in-law Akash Kumar Pathak, son of arrested IFS officer Abhay Pathak, on the pretext of providing them jobs in the Tata Motors. BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has expelled the three-time MLA and former Minister Panigrahi from the party for his involvement in alleged “anti-people activities”.